Tag: Pennsylvania

W.Va. Miner Killed After Accident at Pa. Coal Mine

Authorities say a coal miner was killed over the weekend in an accident at a mine in southwestern Pennsylvania.

At approximately 12:15 AM on June 28, 2015, John William “Bill” Kelly, 55 years old, of Albright, West Virginia a long-term employee of Mepco, LLC, was fatally injured. According to a release from Mepco, Kelly died in an accident at the Company’s 4 West Mine located near Mount Morris, Pennsylvania. In the release, Mepco also released this statement:

"We at the Company are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague.  During this very difficult time, we extend our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to Bill’s family, to all our employees, and to all who knew Bill."

Operations at the mine were suspended as of 11:00 a.m. Sunday morning. The Green County coroner’s office says Kelly died shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sunday in the emergency room at Southwest Regional Medical Center.

Authorities said Kelly had been injured while working at a mine in Mount Morris.

The coroner’s office said preliminary information indicates that he was injured by “some type of air shaft/mine door coming down upon him.”

The cause and manner of death are pending a final autopsy.

Kelly is the eighth coal miner to die in the U.S. this year.

Explosives and Chickens Gets Pa. Man Two Years

A Pennsylvania man who wrecked an SUV on a West Virginia highway while carrying live chickens, improvised explosives and guns has been sentenced to two years in federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says 21-year-old Seth Grim of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, was sentenced for his December guilty plea to an illegal firearms possession charge.

Police say Grim was driving south along Interstate 79 about 30 miles northeast of Charleston when he lost control of his Ford Explorer on Aug. 22 and wrecked. State police found 30 chickens, improvised explosives, a dog, marijuana, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and semiautomatic rifles with high-capacity magazines.

The dog didn’t survive. The explosives were safety removed from the vehicle.

Prosecutors say Grim was moving from Pennsylvania to Kentucky and had been transporting his personal possessions.

W.Va.-Pa. Stream Being Used In Gas Well Restoration Effort

A natural gas well fire in Greene County, Pa., is out after it burned for several days.

A stream that meanders along the West Virginia-Pennsylvania border is being used to help keep the site restored, as order is slowly coming back to the location.

Dunkard Creek is the stream being used to withdraw water as the site is being worked on.

“Dunkard Creek is flowing at the bottom of the hill, near the well site. We evaluated the withdrawal point and determined the volume of water they are requesting, and the rates that they will be pumping it, posed no threat to water quality,” said Scott Perry with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

The water is basically there as a safety net, in case another fire would start burning. Perry says that’s possible but unlikely.

The greatest threat at the site now, according to Perry, is methane venting out of the well, as workers try to replace the damaged well head. Perry says there are meters at the site that are set to alarm workers if methane levels get too high.

Pa. Gubernatorial Hopeful Gives Back Dontations from Freedom Parent Co. Exec.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie McGinty has returned $40,000 in campaign contributions from a western Pennsylvania coal executive, citing his…

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie McGinty has returned $40,000 in campaign contributions from a western Pennsylvania coal executive, citing his ties to the West Virginia chemical spill.

McGinty’s campaign manager Mike Mikus said Monday the two 2013 contributions from J. Clifford Forrest, owner of Kittanning-based Rosebud Mining Co., were returned Jan. 18.

Mikus says campaign officials only learned through news reports that Forrest owns the parent company of Freedom Industries, the company at the center of the Jan. 9 spill that contaminated the water supply for 300,000 West Virginians.

A call to Rosebud headquarters Monday afternoon wasn’t answered.

McGinty is one of seven candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge the re-election of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. She’s a former environmental adviser to ex-Gov. Ed Rendell and the Clinton White House.

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